The subject invention is in the field of art relating to the production of 1,2-dihydroxybenzene compounds.
In the past, these compounds were prepared by first catalytically chlorinating benzene or alkylbenzene to form chlorobenzene or its alkyl counterparts, heating the chlorobenzene compound with dilute sodium hydroxide under high pressure in a continuous tubular system of copper to form a chlorophenol, separating out the o-chlorophenol isomer, and hydrolyzing the o-chlorophenol in an aqueous solution of sodium and strontium hydroxides in the presence of copper to form the 1,2-dihydroxy compound. Although this method produced dihydroxybenzenes in satisfactory quantities, it was relatively complex requiring a number of chemical steps which undesirably increased the cost of the dihydroxy product. There was, therefore, a need for a simplified procedure of producing a dihydroxy compound from a basic hydrocarbon.